Akron Zips 'Digg' deep for 83-71 victory over Buffalo

AKRON, Ohio -- The Akron Zips pulled out a critical 83-71 victory over the Buffalo Bulls Tuesday night in a game that was as entertaining on the court as it was on the sidelines.

Akron senior Quincy Diggs led the way with 25 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals. But the crowd of 3,220 seemed just as interested in UB coach Bobby Hurley.

He had some early words for the officiating crew and drew the ire of the fans with chant's of "Hurley's going to cry, Hurley's going to cry," then was hit with a technical foul in the midst of Akron's critical second half run.

"It's been a pattern against me, I think,'' said Hurley, who felt other coaches around the MAC have been just as demonstrative without getting the striped-shirt attention.

"I feel like I have been targeted unfairly,'' Hurley said.

The player who took advantage was Diggs, who had 17 of his 25 points in the second half to pace three Zips in double figures. Buffalo's Javon McCrea, the favorite to be the MAC's Player of the Year, finished with 15 points and four rebounds while guard Joshua Freelove led the way for UB with 17 points, all in the second half.

"If you give McCrea 15 you have a chance,'' Akron head coach Keith Dambrot said. "When he gets up in the 20s is when you have a problem. The only guy that got it going tonight was Freelove."

After the Zips (19-11, 11-6 MAC) took a 35-30 halftime lead, the Bulls (18-9, 12-5) came out hot and put a 17-7 run to go on top, 47-42. Freelove hit nine of those points, and McCrea made his presence felt with a dunk trailing the fast break with a thunderclap slap of the backboard.

Akron's Reggie McAdams, playing for the first time in five games (mononucleosis) knocked down a 3-pointer to start an Akron run to regain the lead, 56-50, thanks in part to Hurley drawing a technical foul for one too many complaints.

"They responded well, they answered our run, they played a high-level game,'' Hurley said of the Zips.

Akron did appear to be in trouble when workhorse Demetrius Treadwell (17 points, six rebounds) went to the bench with four fouls at the 8:15 mark. But Diggs stepped up with floaters, 3-pointers, assists and steals to push Akron's lead up to 71-58 with 3:25 to go.

It became a free-throw parade after that, but the Zips made enough count to maintain their hold on the No. 4 seed in the MAC Tournament.

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